Prague, Jan 4 (CTK) – Czech President Milos Zeman did not earn much praise for his economic diplomacy in 2015 that led him to controversial eastern countries, while his planned tour of Latin America this year might be more rewarding, Ondrej Fer writes in the latest issue of weekly Tyden out yesterday.
Despite all due respect for Zeman´s effort to throw his weight behind business opportunities for Czech firms, his last year´s itinerary resembled the socialist-era Council for Mutual Economic Cooperation (CMEA) and the Warsaw Pact, Fer writes.
He writes that critics said Zeman legitimises the authoritarian regimes in Azerbaijan, Tajikistan or Uzbekistan with his visits and that he tries to rewrite the geopolitical orientation of the Czech Republic from the Western to the Eastern.
“Economic diplomacy is nothing but a veil for the interests of the president and the businesspeople surrounding him,” Fer quotes Vit Borcany, from the Association for International Affairs, as saying.
This year, Zeman may visit Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico and Peru, whose markets are an attractive destination for the small export economy like the Czech, and that is why businesspeople will undoubtedly fight for the opportunity to accompany him, Fer writes.
Zeman´s spokesman Jiri Ovcacek told Tyden that Zeman´s tour of Latin America will definitely be longer than usual.
“The specific list of the countries to be visited will be precisely set during January. In any case it will be of an exceptional economic dimension,” Ovcacek said.
“South America has been an untapped chance of Czech businesspeople. They are discouraged by the distance between Europe and South America, while there is no reason for this. If all the costs of goods transport to Russia or Asia are put together, they are almost equivalent to the South American costs,” Fer quotes Miroslav Diro, from the Czech Chamber of Commerce, as saying.
The opportunities offered by Costa Rica, for instance, are much more promising than those that Zeman tried to tap during his tours of post-Soviet republics last year, Fer quotes economist Petr Musil, from the College of Polytechnics Jihlava (VSPJ), as saying.
Diro said the Latin American countries are open to Czech businesses that can turn a number of competition advantages into their own benefit.
“We are a traditional industrial country and Czech industrialists are best in the world if we compare the quality, price and flexibility. Czech products and services have a good reputation in some Latin American countries also thanks to the Bata, Zetor, Jawa and Skoda brands,” Diro said.
Brazil, the world´s seventh largest economy, might be interested in electronic security systems made by the Czech firm Jablotron, Fer writes.
The economic ties with Mexico, the Czechs´ leading trade partner in Latin America, surprisingly date back to the 16th century when the former Spanish, or more precisely Habsburg colony started to import Czech linen.
The Volkswagen concern, of which Czech Skoda Auto is part, plays an important role on the Mexican market. Armament makers, producers of environment-protection equipment, IT firms and farm machinery exports will find opportunities in Mexico with a population of 100 million, whose government has generous development plans, Fer writes.
In Colombia, bilateral trade is far behind the two economies´ potential. The CzechInvest agency plans a technological mission to the country in the first half of the year with the aim of mapping opportunities for cooperation in science, applied research and innovations, Fer writes.
He adds that another mission is to help Czech firms assert themselves in the construction of railways and underground (metro).
Peru has been overcoming its omnipresent poverty at an awasome pace. Czech exports to the country are very diverse already now. A round table debate organised recently by the Czech Chamber of Commerce confirmed that Czech firms can mainly assert themselves in the country in energy industry, transport and infrastructure, in food, construction and engineering industries, in health care and environmental technologies.
The question is, whether the president should personally help promote trade relations.
Musil says it is difficult to measure the effectivity of the economic diplomacy of the president of a country that does not have a presidential system.
“Responsibility for diplomacy, including the economic, rests with the government in this country. To quantify, if only approximately, the economic contribution of Milos Zeman´s foreign trips, is very difficult,” Musil said.
Even the most economically profitable trip of Zeman to China last year has brought investments worth some ten billion crowns to the Czech Republic, which, however, is a mere 0.33 percent of China´s overall investments abroad, Fer writes.
“To believe that only the president will arrange this or other business deal is rather romantic,” Musil said.
($1=24.824 crowns)
